The Blackboard Jungle: A Novel - Tapa blanda

"Shocking . . . Arresting . . . Suspense-packed . . . [The Blackboard Jungle] seems to have been torn raw and bleeding out of [Hunter's] personal experience. . . . It frays the nerves like a scream for help in a dark alley. Like The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath, this is a book which shouts that SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE." -The New York Times Book Review "A nightmarish but authentic first novel." -Time "A raw, frightening commentary on a system for which there are no easy correctives . . . A highly dramatic if devastating demonstration of the unequal job of education." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review Praise for Evan Hunter "Under whichever name he writes, Hunter/McBain delivers the goods." -People "He is a flat-out master of his trade." -Larry King, USA Today

The "shocking" and "suspense-packed" bestseller about one teacher's stand against student violence, and the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film (The New York Times Book Review). After serving his country in World War II, Richard Dadier decides to become an English teacher-and for the sin of wanting to make a difference, he's hired at North Manual Trades High School. A tough vocational school in the East Bronx, Manual Trades is home to angry, unruly teenagers exiled from New York City's regular public schools. On his first day, Dadier endures relentless mockery and ridicule and makes an enemy of the student body by rescuing a female colleague from a vicious attack. His fellow educators are bitter, disillusioned, and too afraid of their pupils to risk turning their backs on them in the classroom. But Dadier refuses to give up without a fight. Over the course of the semester, he tries again and again to break through the wall of hatred and scorn and win his students' respect. The more he learns about their difficult circumstances, the more convinced he becomes that a good teacher can make a difference in their lives. His idealism will be put to the ultimate test, however, when a long-simmering power struggle with his most intimidating student explodes into a violent schoolroom showdown. The basis for the blockbuster film starring Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier, Evan Hunter's The Blackboard Jungle is a brutal, unflinching look at the dark side of American education and an early masterpiece from the author who went on to write the gritty 87th Precinct series as Ed McBain. Drawn from Hunter's own experiences as a New York City schoolteacher, it is a "nightmarish but authentic" drama that packs a knockout punch (Time).